lines composed a few short hours from home

We are only a few short hours from home and I am beginning to understand some of the new lessons and realities that have crossed my path through these days and miles of “search”:

· that cactus grows in western Oklahoma acorn grass

· that a deer can appear magical, firm, giving strength while standing by the side of a highway letting me pass early morn New Mexico mesa land

· that sometimes when something is not feeling right at the moment deciding to continue can lead to the right path

· that the road can be the loneliest room on earth when no one’s there to ask your confused questions to

· that “confusion” is my most difficult feeling to deal with

· that it is often the wisest choice to not choose the “courageous path” for often it is out of the fear to deal with one’s real feelings do we close our eyes and blindness agrees

· that many difficulties occur between people due to poor communication, and that it is essential to come to grips with what one is feeling first about a thought or situation and then with that clearer perspective decide what it is you wish

· that another person cannot “make you feel” anything! it is you and your soul which ultimately does the “feeling”

· that “empathy” is perhaps the most poignant word in the English language, and that

being empathetic to another means forgetting your own feelings and wants and only

looking at things from the other person’s place

· that when you love another you are really loving a part of yourself

· that when two people compromise they are really agreeing to repress a small part of

their feelings and wants, and that this works fine as long as one is aware of this scenario

· that each time I light a cigarette I may be repressing a true human feeling

· that preparing my car’s engine for a valve job is within my realm of possibilities

· that if I “miss” something or someone it means I am not really satisfied with what I am into at the present time

· that the worst detriment to growth is to judge a situation before it actually runs its cycle

· that everyone deserves to be listened to, especially the wind

· that having joyful visions based on my observations is something to strive for again

· that “pleasure is indeed a lonely thing”

· that in my head there’s a big microphone where all my rational and irrational feelings and thoughts try to outtalk each other, compete, and that when I’m afraid or confused it’s only those bad guys dominating the airtime, grabbing the mic, and even if one of my positive feelings or thoughts tries to tell me something to build on, the bullies are just waiting to knock him out of the box

· and that presenting someone a bouquet of yellow flowers is another way of making love

1968

NJ TPK Rest Stop